Bennett V. (Ed.) Dynamic Plasma Membranes: Portals Between Cells and Physiology

Academic Press, Oxford, 2016, 260 p., ISBN: 0128054042, 9780128054048Current Topics in Membranes 77This volume focuses on the recent advances in understanding plasma membrane organization and function beginning with simple systems and extending to specialized membrane domains of vertebrate cells.Plasma membranes provide a critical interface between the interior of cells and their external environment in all self-replicating organisms on our
planet. Plasma membranes are particularly important in multicellular animals those lack cell walls, where they are the site of cell–cell and cell
matrix interaction in tissues, as well as receptor-mediated signaling and transport. At first glance, plasma membranes are deceptively simple: fluid lipid bilayers with embedded proteins where the driving force for assembly derives from exclusion of hydrophobic molecules from water.This view was articulated in 1972 as the fluid mosaic model and has provided a highly influential conceptual framework for thinking about membranes. However, it has become abundantly clear that plasma membranes are topologically quite varied with nano- and micron-scale domains, interact extensively with intracellular proteins, and overall are much more complex than that imagined 40 years ago. The focus of this volume is on recent advances in understanding plasma membrane organization and function beginning with simple systems and extending to specialized membrane domains of vertebrate cells.Key FeaturesWritten by leading experts in the field
Contains original material, both textual and illustrative, that should become a very relevant reference material
Presents material in a very comprehensive manner
Ideal for both researchers in the field and general readers who will find relevant and up-to-date informationReaders interested in contemporary membrane biology.A Molecular Look at Membranes
Where Biology Meets Physics – A Converging View on Membrane Microdomain Dynamics
Plasma Membrane Repair in Health and Disease
Local Palmitoylation Cycles and Specialized Membrane Domain Organization
An Adaptable Spectin/Ankyrin-Based Mechanism for Long-Range Organization of Plasma Membranes in Vertebrate Tissues
The Axon Initial Segment, Fifty Years Later: A Nexus for Neuronal Organization and Function